First Look: Asus all-in-one gets Thunderbolt, WiDi support

First Look: Asus all-in-one gets Thunderbolt, WiDi support

2:36 /
November 26, 2012

It's not the most attractive PC out there, but the Asus ET2300INTI has a broad array of features that will entice those looking for a mainstream Windows 8 all-in-one.

Hi, I'm Rich Brown for CNET.
Today, we're gonna take a look at the Asus ET2300INTI.
So, this is a 23-inch Windows 8 all-in-one from Asus.
It costs about 1299.
So, this is a touchscreen all-in-one like most current Windows 8 PCs.
What's probably most unique about this PC is that it has pretty much every current feature we can think of to add the whole system like this.
So as far as the basics, it's probably serviceable Windows 8 PC.
The touchscreen works fine.
It's nice and responsive.
It's a 19 x 10 screen so it's not the highest resolution we've seen, but it certainly gets the job done.
The wireless mouse and keyboard work easily enough as well.
There is an external subwoofer here that present to the back.
It doesn't put up the best audio quality particularly at higher volumes, but it adds a nice a little boost if you won't keep the volume low enough.
There's an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics chip inside so it's not the fastest for gaming, but it will certainly play most titles particularly to keep by image quality down.
For memory and storage, you get 8 gigs to run and a terabyte hard drive
in full speed 7200 rpm is kind of what we expect, and generally, the system has some nice flexibility, if it's not the most attractive new PC out there.
The screen tilts down to the point we can lay it flat if you want to get that sort of table-top touch experience.
But you notice when we tilted back and forth instead of lowers the display down at the same time.
Now, [unk] much rather have the ability to lay down flat than not at all, but it would be nice to have a little bit more independent range of motion in terms of going front to back and up and down.
Now, probably the most interesting about this PC though Asus is included both Thunderbolt ports as well as Intel's WiDi wireless display technology.
Those features are interesting and that you don't really see them in a lot of current mainstream all in one.
In a PC like this that's targeted at mainstream consumers and that really professionals who might want to connect the fast data array or some other sort of higher level peripheral that takes advantage with Thunderbolt port.
And for the wireless display technology, yes I suppose it might be interesting to send the signal from this computer out to a TV with a WiDi receiver on it,
but WiDi still far from perfect and from set of difficulties we have significantly to an LG TV as well as in general, the latency you get it's really not the best experience.
In addition of the core components, it has HDMI in, HDMI out, USB 3 ports as well as an eSATA input.
Now all those various ports give you a time flexibility in terms of what you can connect to the system and it really makes it a pretty versatile all-in-one.
And you can find other all-in-one in this price range maybe locally better than one from Vizio comes to mind.
But in terms of pure features for the dollar, the Asus right now is one of the best we've seen in this price.
I'm Rich Brown,
this is the Asus ET2300INTI.